Back by popular demand, the EA Sports NCAA Basketball 10 simulation of the NCAA Tournament. We had some wacky things happen in last year’s tourney simulation, including a couple of 15 seeds winning. Let’s see if the ol’ PS3 does any better this time around …

NOTE: Do not use this simulation for gambling purposes, unless you want to take a bath on Utah State.

Let’s get started:

MIDWEST REGION—First Round
—1. Kansas 105, 16. Lehigh 48
All five Jayhawks starters score in double figures, led by Tyshawn Taylor’s 26. Xavier Henry scores 25. Between the two, they outscore Lehigh by themselves.

—8. UNLV 107, 9. Northern Iowa 77
No way this game will be this high scoring. Carlos Lopez and Darris Santee with 24 apiece for the Rebls.

—12. New Mexico State 92, 5. Michigan State 89 (OT)
The Aggies shut down Kalin Lucas and pull off the 12-5 upset.

—4. Maryland 89, 13. Houston 85
Eric Hayes carries the Terps on his back, scoring 26 as Maryland holds off Tom Penders’ pesky Cougars.

—6. Tennessee 103, 11. San Diego State 45
Mind you, the sim doesn’t take into account Tyler Smith getting booted off Tennessee’s roster for, um, transgressions. The final score is a bit ridiculous.

—3. Georgetown 105, 14. Ohio 35
What is this, women’s basketball? No NCAA tournament team is losing by 70.

—10. Georgia Tech 98, 7. Oklahoma State 80
Derrick Favors and Gani Lawal each score 27 for the Wreck.

—2. Ohio State 102, 15. UC Santa Barbara 72
Buckeyes actually trail at half, outscore the Gauchos 57-24 after halftime.

WEST REGION—First Round
—16. Vermont 83, 1. Syracuse 71
Taylor Coppenrath and T.J. Sorrentine aren’t walking through that door, and a 16 isn’t upsetting a 1. This isn’t 2005.

—8. Gonzaga 99, 9. Florida State 66
Steven Gray scored 34 in the Bulldogs’ romp.

—5. Butler 88, 12. UTEP 83
Gordon Hayward scored 28 to lead the Bulldogs, who end the dream for Tony Barbee’s Miners.

—4. Vanderbilt 85, 13. Murray State 81
Jermaine Beal with 33 for the ‘Dores, who take out the Racers, who hail from the wonderful land of Murray.

—6. Xavier 83, 11. Minnesota 66
That cheer you just heard was from the WSET-13 sports department.

—3. Pittsburgh 78, 14. Oakland 71
I like that Oakland is called the Golden Grizzlies. It distinguishes Oakland from the Montana Grizzlies. Now if people would just believe that Oakland is in Michigan, not California.

—7. BYU 100, 10. Florida 67
Man crush Jimmer Fredette and the Cougs eliminate a team that shouldn’t have even been in the field to begin with.

—2. Kansas State 80, 15. North Texas 63
Interesting that two NCAA teams are named after the color green—North Texas’ Mean Green and Dartmouth’s Big Green.

SOUTH REGION—First round
—1. Duke 95, 16. Arkansas-Pine Bluff 70
Miles Plumlee scores 10 and Nolan Smith and Jon Scheyer combine for nine? Something’s kooky with this simulation.

—8. California 91, 9. Louisville 59
Cal beats the team that Coach Cal loves to beat, if that makes any sense.

—5. Texas A&M 107, 12. Utah State 82
One of two matchups featuring schools with the same mascot. Clemson-Missouri is the other.

—4. Purdue 78, 13. Siena 56
I had no way to simulate Robbie Hummel tearing his ACL, so Purdue’s run will probably be a little skewed.

—11. Old Dominion, 81, 6. Notre Dame 80
The Monarchs place four players in double figures, led by Gerald Lee’s 17, to dispatch of the Fightin’ Harangodys.

—14. Sam Houston State 73, 3. Baylor 70
Wow, this would bust A LOT of brackets if it actually happened.

—7. Richmond 92, 10. Saint Mary’s 62
Man crush No. 2 Kevin Anderson scores 21 for the Spidahs in the rout.

—2. Villanova 96, 15. Robert Morris 71
This seems about right.

EAST REGION—First round
—1. Kentucky 105, 16. East Tennessee State 43
It’s John Wall’s world.

—8. Texas 90, 9. Wake Forest 80
The battle of who can stink less. Both teams were awful down the stretch.

—5. Temple 104, 12. Cornell 83
See, I’m not sure Temple can score 104 points in three games, much less one.

—13. Wofford 99, 4. Wisconsin 92
Former N&A staffer Andy Bitter does not approve of this result.

—11. Washington 89, 6. Marquette 63
See, I can buy this. Marquette either wins in overtime or gets blown out.

—3. New Mexico 105, 14. Montana 69
Too many teams are breaking the 100-point mark in this thing.

—7. Clemson 84, 10. Missouri 62
I know some people in Myrtle Beach who would be extremely upset with this result.

—2. West Virginia 100, 15. Morgan State 61
Huggy Bear beats the Bears.

MIDWEST REGION—Second round
—1. Kansas 105, 8. UNLV 40
It’s 62-21 at halftime. Marcus Morris scored 29. Larry Johnson tries to sneak onto the floor dressed as Grandmama and is apprehended by security. Lon Kruger sucks on a towel, forgetting he’s not Jerry Tarkanian.

—4. Maryland 82, 12. New Mexico State 77
Who knew Eric Hayes was this good? Another 20-point performance for the Terp two guard.

—6. Tennessee 84, 3. Georgetown 74
See, Georgetown is one of the most perplexing teams in the entire draw. They could lose early or they could go to the Final Four.

—2. Ohio State 78, 10. Georgia Tech 66
The Buckeyes prove they’re more than the Fightin’ Turners. William Buford scores 19 to lead the Scarlet and Gray.

WEST REGION—Second round
—8. Gonzaga 87, 16. Vermont 59
Vermont foiled in bid to become first 16 seed into Sweet 16.

—4. Vanderbilt 93, 5. Butler 651
I don’t trust the ‘Dores one bit, but the ol’ PS3 seems to love them.

—3. Pittsburgh 102, 6. Xavier 63
The weeping you heard came from the WSET-13 sports department.

—2. Kansas State 94, 7. BYU 77
Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!

SOUTH REGION—Second round
—1. Duke 90, 8. California 65
I give up if Duke keeps getting double digits from Brian Zoubek every night.

—4. Purdue 121, 5. Texas A&M 57
When the heck did the Boilers turn into La Salle circa 1990?

—11. Old Dominion 92, 14. Sam Houston State 54
Afterward, the team boards Blaine Taylor’s mustache and flies to Houston.

—2. Villanova 83, 7. Richmond 73
This hurts on a lot of levels. One, Richmond loses even though Scottie Reynolds scores just eight. Two, no more Kevin Anderson. L

EAST REGION—Second round
—1. Kentucky 91, 8. Texas 85 (OT)
Texas suddenly remembers it was ranked No. 1 for a long stretch of the season. Then it blows a 10-point halftime lead and allows the Walls to win.

—13. Wofford 99, 5. Temple 95 (OT)
Temple’s Lavoy Allen scores 41 (!) but it’s not enough against the Terriers.

—11. Washington 106, 3. New Mexico 99 (OT)
When I did this sim last year, Washington made it all the way to the Final Four. I think one of the game’s programmers is a huge Huskies fan.

—2. West Virginia 91, 7. Clemson 72
Da’Sean Butler’s 32 carries WVU to the Sweet 16.

MIDWEST REGION SEMIFINALS
—1. Kansas 91, 4. Maryland 54
Seriously, is anyone going to keep it within 30 against Kansas?

—2. Ohio State 87, 6. Tennessee 69
For all the wackiness that’s gone on in this sim, we get a 1 versus 2 final.

WEST REGION SEMIFINALS
—4. Vanderbilt 97, 8. Gonzaga 61
A.J. Ogilvy scores 35 as the ‘Dores rout another opponent.

—2. Kansas State 94, 3. Pittsburgh 59
So many blowouts in this sim. Frank Martin has a better chance of inciting an on-floor riot than K-State does of dropping 94 on Pitt.

SOUTH REGION SEMIFINALS
—1. Duke 75, 4. Purdue 68
I would have really liked to have seen this matchup if the Boilers had Hummel. Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith each drop 20 on Purdue in the win.

—2. Villanova 96, 11. Old Dominion 65
A mustache alone can’t get a team to the Elite Eight.

EAST REGION SEMIFINALS
—1. Kentucky 109, 13. Wofford 48
Well, if this is going to happen, Wofford ought to not even bother showing up.

—2. West Virginia 81, 11. Washington 76
I would have declared shenanigans had Washington beaten the Mountaineers.

MIDWEST REGION FINAL
—1. Kansas 73, 2. Ohio State 41
To answer my previous question, it appears Kansas will win every game by at least 30 points.

WEST REGION FINAL
—2. Kansas State 89, 4. Vanderbilt 81 (OT)
Jacob Pullen’s 28 points leads K-State and gives the Sunflower State half the Final Four teams.

SOUTH REGION FINAL
—1. Duke 97, Villanova 89
Everyone doubts the Blue Devils, but they’ve got too much offense for the sartorially resplendent Jay Wright-led Wildcats to handle. Singler with 29 for the Dookies.

EAST REGION FINAL
—1. Kentucky 95, 2. West Virginia 65
Remember Patrick Patterson? He was the Cats’ best player before Wall and DeMarcus Cousins arrived. He scores 21 to lead the Cats.

FINAL FOUR
(Mind you, the game messed things up and has the East playing the Midwest, when in reality, it’s the West against the South)

—Duke 103, Kansas State 77
The Wildcats’ run comes to an end against Duke’s superior talent and coaching. I mean, if you can coax 17 out of Miles Plumlee, you must be doing something right as a coach, right?

—Kansas 84, Kentucky 69
Finally! A competitive game! Not really. Kansas led 46-27 at halftime. Xavier Henry’s 21 paces the Rock Chalks.

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
—Kansas 93, Duke 64
The Jayhawks are the clear team of destiny, finishing a run not seen since the glory days of UNLV in the late 80s. It was close at halftime, with Kansas leading just 37-31, but Singler is about the only guy who can score for Duke, finishing with 29 points. Miles Plumlee goes back to being Miles Plumlee and scored five.

So after all the upheaval, the Final Four is mostly chalk, with three No. 1s and a No. 4 advancing. That, at least, I can buy. Not sure I think Kansas will roll this easily to a title, though.

This concludes your yearly NCAA simulation.